


close-lipped confessions

by imsodead



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Drama, Flowers, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Pairings to be revealed later, Romance, additional tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-09 20:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8911366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imsodead/pseuds/imsodead
Summary: Semi was never good with words, so he let the flowers do the speaking.(In which Shirabu Kenjirou developed a hobby of pressing flowers, Semi showers Shirabu with said flowers, and Shirabu still has no clue why)





	1. i n t r o

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Semi was never good with words, so he let the flowers do the speaking.
> 
> (In which Shirabu Kenjirou developed a hobby of pressing flowers, Semi showers Shirabu with said flowers, and Shirabu still has no clue why)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this is my first time posting in this site and writing characters in this fandom so bear with me please (i've wanted to write haikyuu for a while and i have a shit ton of ideas and idk which idea and character/s to choose first bc i love them all) and since i love shiratorizawa, semi especially, i decided to start off with them. so have at it (also i wrote most of this at 1 am, and i feel sleepy so this is definitely shit)

Shirabu Kenjirou was not really a sentimental person, even Taichi could attest to that. Not that he had any problems with people keeping things as a remembrance or something; it’s just that he did not see the point in holding onto things that were of no use anymore. Not that he ruled every memorabilia as useless; there were still some things that proved to be useful such as mugs and shirts. Heck, he sometimes even finds himself keeping postcards as decorations. At least they still had some use, right?

But out of all the gifts and souvenirs he could get and choose to keep, flowers were one of the things he’d rather throw out.

Not that he was against the idea of giving flowers, or anything. He just really didn’t get what the point of giving flowers was. They’ll just die out anyway, right? Sure, they make pretty decors. But so do postcards, and those don’t rot away and die. 

Well, that’s what he usually thought.

So why the fuck was he attempting to press flowers at two in the morning?

He wasn’t even supposed to be doing this. He was supposed to be doing a menial task of sorting through his old lecture notes and maybe finding ones he could give to Goshiki (since the poor kid really needed some help, god save his soul). But sooner or later, he suddenly finds himself browsing through old journals of his, looking for some space to cram the crinkly yellow bloom by his feet in an attempt to straighten out the creases and wrinkles in the overly bright petals and no – he was not attempting to preserve it, really, he wasn’t. He didn’t even know he could preserve flowers that way – and no, Taichi, that is not a site teaching one how to preserve flowers flashed on the laptop screen.

God, he just wanted to finish arranging his mess, but what did he get? A nosy roommate who’s peering over his shoulder, eyes darting from the screen to his attempted work, trying to spew out some directions and advice.

Shirabu felt his grip on the flower’s flimsy stem tighten, and he could hear Taichi’s disapproving tone from behind him but he has long ignored it in favor of actually attempting to accurately press the flower in his hand onto the blank pages of an old journal. Who knows how long he’s been at it (– and no, Taichi, it hasn’t been two hours, no one’s keeping time), but apparently, the mussed up state of the bloom and the journal’s pages are evidence enough to prove that Shirabu, in fact, has tried several times to press the flower perfectly.

Finally, after probably hours of attempting perfection, the small brunette shut the journal, deeming his work to be decent enough, obviously ignoring the fact that he actually just gave up since the state of the flower was beyond saving by then. He looks up from his work and finds that Kawanishi had already retired, probably having gotten bored of watching him agonize over a simple task of flower pressing.

He then shifts his gaze to the clock on his bedside table, trying to decipher the time. And upon seeing the time, he lets out a small string of curses, wondering what had overtaken him to spend so much time just to press one small flower(– and no, Taichi, it’s not because it was from Semi-san, now shut up and go back to sleep). Those were just flowers, for fuck’s sake! And they weren’t even pretty anymore. So why did he even spend hours trying to perfect the art of pressing flowers? They couldn’t be reused let alone be used for décor at all. In annoyance, he flings the journal a few feet away and attempts to resume his earlier task of sorting through his things, but even then, he couldn’t concentrate as his eyelids were growing heavy.

Seeing that it was already late, Shirabu decided to just let it go and finally go to bed. Shutting his laptop, the brunette slowly dragged his feet to bed. He glares at the journal, now by the foot of his bed, kicking it before he finally plops down on his bed. Glancing once more at the clock on his bedside table, he groans, realizing that he barely has four hours left of sleep before the day starts.

 

Tomorrow was going to be a shitty day, Shirabu just knew it.

 

(And he was definitely going to blame Semi for it)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a short intro, there's barely any content actually. i've already started on a bit of the first chapter (and some future scenes) although i'm not sure when i'll be able to finish it just yet (bc i'm a lazy piece of shit). but i hope you liked it!!!  
> [-]  
> Edited 12/22/16: Nothing major, I just took out a few bits that weren’t really important and weren’t really in my final draft (I forgot to save the final one before my laptop died and ended up posting the old one, but meh) I also wanted to change four hours to like two, or something because f o u r h o u r s is already a blessing for me and is entirely normal but I decided against it  
> Next chapter will hopefully be up later (but then again, I just thought of another plot for an IwaOi fanfic and I just need to get started on it so…)


	2. o r a n g e  l i l y [ 1 ]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since his first year up until his second year, Semi has associated Shirabu with an orange lily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!! so here's the actual start of the fic, it's def gonna be a long ride. i honestly had a hard time trying to connect my ideas, so i kinda took a while. sorry. anyway, for those who celebrate it, advanced Merry Christmas!!!

“I don’t like him,” Semi Eita declares as soon as he plops down on the empty space of a bench, eyes narrowed and mouth formed into a tight scowl. Beside him, Tendou lets out a cackle vaguely sounding like that witch from some anime the redhead has roped him into watching, and Semi couldn’t help but wonder if his friend was actually attempting to imitate that anime character’s laugh. 

Sandwiched between the two, most likely done in order to tone down the intensity of Semi and Tendou’s almost violent exchanges, was Yamagata, who was endlessly snickering whilst tapping away on his phone (that miraculously had not gone missing) and Reon, who was sighing softly, hiding an amused smile with his towel. Ushijima had previously occupied the space on the floor by the cluster of water bottles but after a few minutes of sitting idly, he had finally stood up and returned to the court, opting to practice instead.

“So, what do you think of the newbies?” Tendou repeats his query, eyes watching the new faces scattered across the other side of the court, enclosed within their own groups, although there were some that still lingered on the court for extra practice. The second years noted the lingering look the red-haired middle blocker had on a particularly tall, emotionless first-year. Semi vaguely remembers the first-year saying he was a middle blocker, and upon connecting all the pieces, he inwardly prays for the poor freshman’s soul, knowing very well that once Tendou has set his eyes on someone, he won’t stop fussing over them.

The second-year setter leans back, a hand supporting his weight, as he idly listens to his friends’ opinions on each new member. His gaze swept over the whole expanse of the room, eyeing each freshman the second years spoke of, making small judgements of them from where he sat. 

His eyes find the figure of a small, copper-haired first year, and Semi remembers him saying that he was a setter. Subconsciously, he frowns. 

Semi observes the small player closely, watching as the freshman walks away from his small cluster of freshman friends and timidly approach Ushijima, volleyball held between his hands. The blond second year could feel his teammates’ eyes on him as their chatter stills, but he does not take away his gaze from the younger setter who by then was briefly speaking to their ace. The older setter could only assume it was about practice, if the volleyball that freshman bunny look-a-like (really, Semi had still yet to learn his name) held was any indication. Soon, he finds Ushijima nodding along to whatever the smaller male had said and the two were moving on to a less crowded part of the court.

“I don’t like him.” Semi repeats, watching as the smaller setter nervously attempted to toss the ball to Ushijima, sending the ball soaring in almost perfect arc only to miss the taller male’s palm by a few centimeters or so. Semi swore he could feel the gazes on him get more intense as he made the comment, and soon, the telltale sounds of snickering filled into his ears.

He turns to face his ever supportive friends, scowling. 

“Maybe you’re just jealous~” Tendou pipes up in a singsong voice, letting out an undignified squawk as he falls backward and off the bench in an attempt to narrowly evade the water bottle the setter hurls at him. 

Reon sighs as he bends down to pick up the fallen bottle, ignoring Tendou’s flailing hands as he does so. The redhead lets out another squawk in indignation at being ignored and rejected some help. 

“Keep it down or Washijo-sensei’s gonna kill us,” Reon chastises, setting down the bottle in his hand and subtly moving the others away from their setter’s hands. Yamagata notices this from the corner of his eyes and snickers, opening his mouth to make a comment but one look from Reon shut him up.

Tendou finally uprights himself and sticks out a tongue at Semi while the blond growls back in return. The redhead only cackles in return before averting his gaze and settling for watching Ushijima, who was still practicing with the unnamed first year. It seems that after a couple of tries, the first year setter was finally able to get over his nerves and was now able to more or less send the ball somewhat cleanly into Ushijima’s open palm, although there were still a few mistakes here and there. 

The red-haired middle blocker whistled appreciatively at the display of skill. He sneaks a glance at Semi from the corner of his eyes to gauge the setter’s reaction seeing as the blond had resumed watching the younger male. The middle blocker lifted an eyebrow upon noticing the deep frown that etched onto the second year setter’s face and Tendou couldn’t help but tease the setter.

“You know…” The redhead starts, turning his head to face the blond setter. Tendou could hear Reon sigh from where he sat beside Semi and Yamagata’s soft whisper of ‘here we go again’ but he ignored the two in favor of irking their setter yet again. 

Semi tentatively turns to face Tendou, a bit interested in hearing what he has to say. “…if that first year setter gets any better, he might just replace you.”  
The redhead’s words must have struck a chord, evident when the frown on Semi’s face deepened. The setter didn’t say anything, which somewhat scared Tendou even more, and just as he was about to take it back and play it off as a joke, the blond had stormed off.

Later on, when practice had resumed, the second years sans Ushijima, kept throwing concerned glances towards Semi, seeing as the second year setter seemed to be quite tense and in a bad mood. And as the blond made his way to the service area, the three second years couldn’t help but gulp, knowing that an irked Semi usually equated into vicious serves (that at times, may even end up targeting a teammate).

Semi, on the other hand, was fully aware of the glances his teammates kept sending him but chose to ignore them. Tendou’s comment earlier greatly irked him, and thinking about how such a tiny first year could even take his place annoyed him even more. 

The setter was also very aware of how tense he had been, seeing as he had made a few mistakes during plays. And seeing their coach’s withering glare directed at him, Semi knew he had to do something before their coach removed him off the court.  
So he only did what he could think of at that time.

He served – adding more strength than needed. Because he obviously needed to let out his pent-up frustrations at something, and what would be a better choice than volleyball? (A lot, obviously, but the blond was not blessed with enough time to think)

“Fuck that, I’m not going to let some first year brat beat me and take my spot.” Semi mutters under his breath in annoyance as he lands, looking up to face the other side of the court only to meet the first year setter’s intense glare and – oh god, was he _bleeding_ ?! 

It took Semi a few moments to realize that he had served into the brunette’s face, and he stared at the younger male in horror (and mild amusement, but Semi wasn’t going to admit that). In the background, he could hear coach barking out orders and people scrambling to tend to the bleeding first year. But it seemed as if that didn’t even bother the brown-haired setter as he met Semi’s stare head on with a fierce glare of his own. 

And as the blond setter heard his name amidst their coach’s angered tirade, he couldn’t help but gulp.

_He was fucked._

And thus was the start of the duo’s ~~beautiful~~ relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _orange lily - **hatred** _
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> -  
> part two's coming up really soon! i actually wanted to make it into one whole piece, but i couldn't let the opportunity to let the chapter end as is pass. anyway, hope you liked it!!  
> talk to me? hmu on [ tumblr ](https://vvdesd.tumblr.com/) or [ ffnet ](https://www.fanfiction.net/~awkwardxconfused%20)


	3. o r a n g e  l i l y [ 2 ]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Since his first year up until his second year, Semi has associated Shirabu with an orange lily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually got it done in time!!! Anyway, to anyone reading this, Merry Christmas!!! (if you celebrate it, if you don't, well, Have a nice day!!!). I really wanted to do a Christmas-themed semishira fic, or chapter, but the chapter that fits the bill isn't supposed to be out 'til later in this story and I can't settle for just one idea if I wanted to do a one-shot so oh well. Enjoy?

In contrary to Semi’s words, come his third and final year at Shiratorizawa, the young brown-haired setter had indeed taken his place as the team’s official setter, much to the older male’s annoyance.

Sure, Shirabu, as Semi had come to know his name, was quite skilled as a setter, the blond admits to himself, but that did not stop him from becoming bitter about it. Maybe he would’ve been a bit fine with it had he been on better terms with the brown-haired second year. 

But they weren’t.

With how frequent it became, their teammates finally regarded the two’s banter as something like a routine. 

It usually began with Semi chastising or giving advice to Shirabu, which the latter promptly ignores in such a dismissive fashion that greatly irks the former. And from there, a series of ~~friendly~~ banter erupts, incredibly high in salt content.

The third years couldn’t help but wonder whether Shirabu was still salty about Semi serving a ball into his face during his first year, or if Semi was still salty about Shirabu taking his place as the team’s official setter. Despite the constant bickering, though, they were thankful that the two had not resolved to any physical violence.  
But looking at Semi, it seems like it’ll only take a short while before he finally snaps.

Such is the reason why the third years were standing a distance away from Semi (to look inconspicuous, they claim) as the older setter approaches Shirabu. They watch as the two briefly talked, both scowling at each other. For a moment, their bodies were tense and they resisted the urge to walk over and just restrain the blond setter in order to lessen the chances of physical contact, but they knew that if they did, Semi would know what they were up to (not that he didn’t know already, four large figures looming just behind is pretty hard to miss, in his opinion). And if he knew, chances were that he’d get upset at them again, and being the ‘great’ friends they are, they didn’t want that.

Semi was pretty aware of their intentions, though, and he kind of appreciated it. But sometimes he just wished they’d lay off on him and just trust him. It wasn’t like he was going to hit Shirabu, _right_?

He just wanted to talk to the second year, and maybe even apologize. He honestly didn’t care if he was on bad terms with the younger male, but it seemed to affect the team, and he didn’t want that, so for now, he’ll swallow his pride and attempt mending things with the younger setter, and maybe even congratulate him on his achievement. Sure, he was still bitter about it, but the brunet did deserve it. Semi wasn’t blind, he saw how the small second year worked so hard to earn it, and honestly, seeing the younger guy pour that much effort into training, concerned him. The younger setter was so tiny, Semi wondered if he even ate. Maybe he did, but not so much, because Shirabu just looked so tiny that the blond thought he was going to break anytime soon and – 

“Semi-san?” A small, annoyed voice called out to him, breaking him from his trail of thoughts. “Did you need something?” His eyes refocus and meet the annoyed, chocolate brown eyes of Shirabu’s.

“I…uh,” To be honest, Semi didn’t really expect to get to this stage, so he really had a bit of trouble articulating his words. He stalled, trying to find a way to get across his sentiments, since apparently, he had trouble saying it directly.

Shirabu was having none of that. “If you don’t have anything to say, I’m going back to practice.” He says, turning around to walk away, and in a panic, Semi splutters and grabs the brunet’s wrist (behind him, the third years tensed).

The smaller setter turns to level a fierce glare at him and the blond immediately drops his hold on the younger’s wrist. “What?” He asks rather harshly, clearly showing his irritation.

Semi gulped, fuck this. “Uh, congratulations.” He starts out a bit awkwardly, eyes looking at everywhere except Shirabu. “…on becoming the main setter.” It takes a bit of guts for Semi to finally look at the younger setter, and seeing the shocked look on the smaller male made the blond smile a bit (and from behind him, the third years relaxed completely).

Shirabu blinks. He did _not_ expect this. 

The brunet glances up at the older male, blinking. He sees the blond smile slightly in amusement, perhaps at his reaction, and Shirabu composes himself immediately.   
“Thank you, Semi-san.” The brunet answers politely albeit dismissively, smiling slightly before he walked away. 

If Semi didn’t know any better, he’d think that the younger male was for once, sincere. 

But the blond definitely caught the haughty and mocking undertone in his underclassman’s actions and he scowled. The third years, who were already walking away, had gathered around Semi, bodies tense as if waiting for some kind of fight to break out.

“That brat…” He growls, eyes narrowed in annoyance, fists clenched. From beside him, Reon sighs in exasperation and Tendou cackles. 

_So much for making up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _orange lily - **hatred** _
> 
> -  
> Hope you guys liked this! I'd really like to hear your thoughts  
> hmu on [ tumblr ](https://vvdesd.tumblr.com/) if you want to talk semishira (or just haikyuu/ships/anything) with me


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